Posting a finishing time of 50m18s, Morpeth Harrier Nick Swinburn won the
annual Brampton to Carlisle Road 10mile Road Race on Sunday 20th November, being run for the 65th occasion, and quite arguably the oldest event of its kind in England. Swinburn led from the gun, and at the three mile point he had a thirty one second margin over his closest rival, however eventually he won with a minute and one second to spare over Trafford AC’s James Bowness, with Heaton 10k winner Marc Fenwick taking third place, a further five seconds adrift. Times slowed dramatically for all runners over the final four miles as they hit icy patches that had been caused by early morning frost. The event had a total of 677 finishers, that included Swinburn, along with another five of his Morpeth colleagues. Next from the club to finish was Paul Waterson, who was 77th in 61m07s, and was fourth in the Over 50 Veteran Men’s category. Third home and completing the Morpeth scoring trio was Mark Cockburn, who finished 93rd in 63m03s. This saw Morpeth Senior Men in tenth place behind runaway team winners Tyne Bridge Harriers. Fourth home for Morpeth was Mark’s older brother Robert, who finished in 164th place in 67m45s, and was 24th Over 40 Veteran Man. Finishing 297th overall in 74m07s, Morpeth’s Jane Briggs was seventh Over 45 Veteran Lady Completing the Morpeth sextet was Over 65 Veteran Man Norman Clark, who was fifth in his category when finishing 337th in 76m47s. Waterston, Cockburn, and Clark combined to help a Morpeth Veteran Men’s squad home to 20th team place. The annual running of the Start Fitness North Eastern Harrier League Sherman Cup (Male) and Davison Shield (Female) competitions were held at a sunny, very cold, crisp, and relatively dry Temple Park on Saturday 19th November, and athletes from Morpeth Harriers proved to be very dominant, as the club retained their hold on the former, and finished third in the latter behind Gosforth Harriers, who won the competition for the first time since its inception. In the Sherman Cup, Morpeth also had three individual Gold medal winners, two Silver Medallists, and one Bronze, and they also had three age group victories and one second place. Led by a rampant Carl Avery, Morpeth Harriers Senior Men romped to a thirty one point margin team victory over Sunderland Harriers, with Jarrow and Hebburn a further four points adrift in third place. For Avery his victory was just the icing on the cake, as he strode to a thirty two second lead over club colleague Sam Hancox, who had been well up with him during the first of three large laps. Avery eventually broke away towards the end of the second lap. They were joined in the team triumph by Thomas Straughan, who finished fifth, just ahead of another club colleague Robert Balmbra, who finished sixth. Other Morpeth Harriers Senior Men in action were Jordan Scott (8th), Karl Taylor (13th), Jake Masterman (27th), Tony Lewis (47th), Steve Patterson (55th), Andrew Richardson (128th), and Scott Allan (181st). Included amongst the Senior Men’s race, were also six Morpeth Harriers Veteran Men, who as a team finished fifth behind a very dominant North Shields Poly. Morpeth were led home by Over 50 Veteran Tim Miley, who finished in 72nd place overall, and was 16th Veteran Man, and also was third in his category. Next home from the club in the Veteran Men’s section was Rob Hancox, who was 76th overall, and was 18th Veteran, and was fourth Over 50. Completing the Morpeth Veteran Men’s tally was Paul Brown, who finished 121st overall, was 44th Veteran Man, and was seventh Over 50. Other Morpeth Harriers Veteran Men in the 379 strong field were Alistair MacDonald (150th) (62nd Veteran Man) (11th O/50), Peter Scaife (212th) (97th Veteran Man) (7th O/55), and Paul Bellingham (220th) (102nd Veteran Man) (10th O/55). Kieran Hedley led Morpeth Harriers Under 17 Men home to an emphatic win over closest rivals Durham City in their two full lap event. Hedley won with sixteen seconds to spare over club colleague Taylor Glover, who by his own admission produced his best performance of the cross country season so far, to fend off close attentions from his Morpeth club colleague Rory Leonard, winner of the previous weeks Heaton race. The Morpeth trio enjoyed winning respective Gold, Silver, and Bronze individual medals, to add to their team success Such was the dominance of the overall Morpeth Harriers Under 17 Men’s performances, that all their athletes finished in the top 21 runners in the 38 strong field. Other Morpeth results came from Joseph Ramshaw (6th), Liam Marsh (9th), Connor Marshall (10th), Matthew Waterfield (11th), Alex Cunningham (19th), and Josh Burton. Morpeth Harriers Under 15 Boy Daniel Dixon secured himself a most prized individual Gold Medal, as he led his club to an excellent team victory over Houghton Harriers. Dixon won with twenty one seconds to spare over Houghton’s Henry Johnson, with Wallsend’s Samuel Charlton, just edging out his Morpeth Harriers namesake Ross Charlton for the Bronze medal. Completing the Morpeth winning tally was Daniel Melling, who again produced an excellent performance to finish seventh. Thomas Cunningham and Andrew Hudspith of Morpeth finished 12th and 22nd respectively in the 57 strong field. Morpeth Harriers Under 13 Boys were very unlucky not to be able to make it a clean sweep for the Male section of the club, when they finished a close second to Durham City, only losing out by the margin of five points. Gosforth Harriers placed third, a further two points adrift. The club were led home by Ben Walker, who finished in sixth place, and only a mere six seconds adrift of the minor individual medals. Further scoring counts came from Under 13 Boys Road Champion Dylan Davies, and Bobby Stone, who finished in 12th and 19th places respectively. Stone just outpaced club colleague Alex Porteous to the finish line. Porteous finished 20th. The Under 13 Boys provided the club with an excellent turnout, with no less than ten including the four already mentioned facing the starter. Other Morpeth performances came from Callum Rowell (39th), Ollie Bruce (43rd), Jack Barrett (52nd), James Tilley (53rd), Aaron Haldane (54th), and Reece Garrett (68th). There were a total of 81 finishers in the Under 13 Boys one lap event. The individual on the day victories by Laura Weightman and Holly Peck, were the major highlights of a good Morpeth Harriers performance by their Female section of the club. However, despite some excellent eye-catching performances, they could not quite match up to the on the day efforts by winners Gosforth Harriers and second placed Gateshead Harriers, losing out for victory by nine points, and five points for second. They quite deservedly for their efforts however, will pick up a set of Team Bronze medals to add to the individual tally after finishing as third team. For Weightman it was a truly superb run, on a course that particularly supported her individual strengths, as she won with seventy-four seconds to spare over second placed club colleague Emma Holt. Both Weightman and Holt are in excellent form, and they seem well prepared for the challenges ahead, particularly the forthcoming North Eastern Counties Cross Country Championships at Aykley Heads, Durham, in early December, when talents such as Rosie Smith (Durham City), Alyson Dixon (Sunderland Strollers), and Sonia Samuels (Sale Harriers), amongst other local leading protagonists, are also expected to face the starter. Morpeth Harriers were easy winners of the Senior Women’s team race being further supported by Josie Cram, who finished ninth overall, however was sixth Senior, but was instantly promoted to fifth because of Gina Rutherford’s ineligibility to currently count in team competition, having just transferred from North Shields Poly to Jarrow and Hebburn, having been a member of them since being a youngster. Cram will also be in the star-studded line-up at Aykley Heads. The other Morpeth Senior Woman in action was Catriona MacDonald who finished 11th as 7th Senior. Morpeth Veteran Women finished in tenth team place behind countback winners Tyne Bridge Harriers, who had a similar total points tally to second placed Alnwick Harriers. Jane Hodgson led the Morpeth squad home in seventh place overall, one place behind Ella Brown of Alnwick, who took the Veteran Women’s title. However, Hodgson was first in her Over 35 category, and was supported in the Morpeth Harriers team count by Helen King (46th) (28th Vet) (11th O/40), and Lindsay Turnbull (73rd) (44th Vet) (6th O/45). Other Morpeth Harriers Veteran Women in action were Jane Kirby (103rd) (62nd Vet) (24th O/40), Jilly Bell (125th) (73rd Vet) (12th O/45), Helen Bruce (166th) (100th Vet) (39th O40), Sue Smith (180th) (110th Vet) (15th O50), and Carol Parry (182nd) (112th Vet) (22nd O/45). There were 286 finishers in the Women’s two lap event. Holly Peck was Morpeth Harriers second individual female Gold medallist of the day, when she won the Under 15 Girls one lap event by a margin of twenty-five seconds over Houghton’s Lydia James, who had the consolation of leading her club to a team win by one point. Meanwhile a very much in form Peck led Morpeth to second team place, with good supporting runs coming from Lily Heaton (6th) and Lauren Cummings (8th). Morpeth Harriers other Under 15 Girl in action was Ella Duffield, who finished in 26th place in the 50-strong field. Undoubtedly one of the most excellent individual performances of the day from Morpeth Harriers
came from Under 17 Woman Gracie Hufton, who finished tenth in the two-lap combined event with Under 20 Women. Hufton led her club magnificently to third team place behind winners Gosforth Harriers and second placed Sunderland Harriers, with further good team support coming from Alison Brown (14th), and Abby Sheldon (20th). Rhiannon Hedley finished fifth, and led Morpeth Harriers Under 13 Girls home to twelfth team place in their one lap event. Further team support came from Laura Melling (50th), and Fay Smith (61st). Another Morpeth Under 13 Girl in action was Molly Ions, who finished in 63rd place. In the non-scoring Under 11 Boys and Girls 1k events, Morpeth Harriers had ten from the club in action Joseph Hudspith was the first home from the club in the Boys race, finishing ninth overall. Not far behind him was Ryan Davies, who finished in fifteenth place. The clubs other three athletes in the Boys event were Harry Jackson (20th), Bruce Smith (37th), and Joe Dixon (91st). Maisie Dickinson was first home from Morpeth in the Girls event, finishing an excellent ninth. Next from the club to finish was Sophia Cunningham, who came home in 16th place. Other Morpeth Under 11 Girls in action were Keira Peck (21st), Lauren Garrett (39th), and Molly Haldane (58th) . The next Start Fitness Harrier League action will take place next Saturday (26th), and will be held at a new course at Thornley Hall Farm, County Durham. Action gets underway as usual at 12.15pm, The first meeting in the 2016/17 Gateshead College Indoor Series took place on the evening of Thursday 17th November. Four Morpeth Harriers were involved in a busy night of Sprint and Field action. Club newcomers Olivia Hawkes and Olivia Gent competed in the Under 13 Girls 60m. Hawkes was third fastest, posting a time of 9.2s, and Gent was fifth fastest with 10.1s. In the Under 13 Boys events Kofi Avornyo was equal second fastest with his clocking of 8.98s. Under 20 Man David Thomas ran in the first round heats of the 60m, but failed to go through to the second round with his clocking of 8.01s. He did however have more success in the Long Jump, winning his age group with a best effort of 5.69m. Joe Armstrong, Rory Leonard and Holly Peck of Morpeth Harriers were all winning performers at Sunday’s Heaton Harriers Memorial Races, held on Newcastle’s Town Moor on Sunday 13th November. Posting a winning time of 15m37s over the 5k course, which was four seconds outside the Under 20 Men’s course record, Armstrong finished a good thirteen seconds clear of James Cripwell of Gateshead Harriers. Sixteen seconds adrift of Cripwell in third place was Morpeth Harrier Rory Leonard (16m06s), who took the Under 17 Men’s title ahead of club colleague Kieran Hedley, who finished fourth overall in 16m27s. Third in the Under 17 Men’s event was Morpeth’s Taylor Glover, who finished sixth overall in 16m30s. Other Morpeth Harriers finishers in the combined Under 17/Under 20 Men’s 5k event were Jake Masterman (7th) (4th U/20 Man) 16m38s, Joe Ramshaw (8th) (4th U/17 Man) 16m44s, Liam Marsh (10th) (5th U/17 Man) 17m20s, Matthew Waterfield (13th) (8th U/17 Man) 17m43s, Connor Marshall (14th) (9th U/17 Man) 17m45s, Alex Cunningham (15th) (10th U/17 Man) 18m03s, Joe Dowd (17th) (12th U/17 Man) 18m23s, Jacob Hopkins (18th) (6th U/20 Man) 18m43s. Clocking a time of 11m05s over the 3k distance gave Morpeth’s Holly Peck a six second margin victory over Houghton’s Lydia James in the Under 15 Girls event. Club colleague Lily Heaton finished fourth in the Under 15 Girls event in 11m29s. Daniel Melling of Morpeth ran well to finish an excellent third in the Under 15 Boys 3k event in 10m23s. Fifth place went to his Morpeth Harriers club colleague Thomas Cunningham, who posted a finishing time of 10m44s. Andrew Hudspith finished in sixth place in 11m09s. Morpeth’s lone runner in the Under 17 Women’s 5k event, Gracie Hufton, finished 5th in 21m46s. Dylan Davies was first home for Morpeth Harriers in the Under 13 Boys 3k event, finishing fifth overall in 10m46s, just three seconds ahead of club colleague Ben Walker, who was one place behind in 10m49s. Other Morpeth Harriers finishers in the Under 13 Boys event were Bobby Stone (9th) 12m14s, James Tilley (12th) 12m59s, and Reece Garrett (15th) 13m59s. In the Under 13 Girls 3k event Morpeth Harriers two finishers Laura Melling and Fay Smith finished in 11th and 13th places, with respective times of 14m03s, and 14m39s. In the Under 11’s 1k event Morpeth Harriers had a total of seven competing athletes in the combined field of Boys and Girls which had 27 facing the starter. They had four Boys and three Girls in action. In the Boys event, Ryan Davies was first home from the club, finishing an excellent third in 3m51s. One place and two seconds adrift of him was club colleague Joseph Hudspith. Two seconds further adrift in fifth place was Harry Jackson. Morpeth’s quartet in the Boys event was completed by Joe Dixon, who was ninth in`5m11s. In the Girls event, Morpeth Harriers first finisher was Sophia Cunningham who placed fourth in 4m11s. Second home for Morpeth was Keira Peck, who was seventh in 4m19s. Lauren Garrett completed the Morpeth Harriers trio, finishing in ninth place in 4m29s. Morpeth Harriers had three competitors in action in the record breaking 589 strong Senior 10k field.
First of those to finish was Mike Steven, who posted a finishing time of 43m56s, when placing 235th, and he was 9th Over 55 Veteran Man Next home from the club was Kevin Bray, who finished in 272nd place in 44m41s, and was 11th Over 55 Veteran Man. Completing the Morpeth trio was Steve Garrett, who finished in 397th place in 49m27s, and was 43rd Over 45 Man. Many thanks go to the team at Heaton Harriers for organising a splendid event, and arranging a fitting one minute silence immediately prior to the Under 17/Under 20 event in respect of the two talented Aldershot athletes who had been tragically killed whilst out training earlier in the week, and before the Senior event to observe the annual Armistice Ceremony. In addition to this, all of the Morpeth Harriers Under 17 and Under 20 athletes wore Black Ribbons on their vests as an extra tribute to the Aldershot Athletes Lucy Pygott and Stacey Burrows. Daniel Dixon and Holly Peck of Morpeth Harriers produced superb winning performances at the Regional Final of the English Schools Cross Country Cup on Saturday 12th November, which was held at leafy Stewart Park in Middlesbrough. Posting a finishing time of 13m55s, Dixon won the Intermediate Boys event with twenty seconds to spare over his closest rival Harvey Lewis, who was running for winning school Ermystead’s Grammar of Skipton North Yorkshire. Dixon led King Edward VI academy of Morpeth to second place and through to the National Final, to be held in Formby in Lancashire in December, with further excellent support coming from his Morpeth Harriers club colleague Ross Charlton, who finished in third place, and only a mere four seconds adrift of Lewis. Two places and twenty seconds behind Charlton was another Morpeth Harrier Daniel Melling, who led Dame Allan’s School of Newcastle to fourth team place. Other Morpeth Harriers in action in the Intermediate Boys event were Thomas Cunningham (15th) 15m12s,
Brad Brown (40th) 16m54s, and Sam Bradley (48th) 17m41s, who were respectively third, fourth, and fifth home for King Edward. Holly Peck posted a time of 10m29s, to win the Intermediate Girls event by a margin of five seconds over Northallerton’s Emma Hart, to lead King Edward to fourth team place, and who were very unlucky to miss out on the National Final. Other good Morpeth Harriers and King Edward supporting counts came from Lily Heaton, who finished fourth in 10m57s, Lauren Cummings, who finished 16th in 11m21s, and Kirsty Duffin who finished 34th in 12m33s. Two Morpeth Harriers were in action in the Junior Girls event. Alice Geoghegan finished 18th in 9m20s, as third counter for second placed Royal Grammar School of Newcastle, and Laura Melling, younger sister of Daniel, finished in 45th place in 10m13s, and was third counter for 10th placed Dame Allan’s of Newcastle. |
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